Dhatri Devaraju, Ph.D.
Waisman Center @ 8:30 am - 9:30 am
Learn more about the Hearing and Donuts Seminar Series
Speech and language processing in the presence of noise exerts additional demands on cognitive processes, increasing the load on attention and working memory. Phonological units are the smallest structures of speech that are processed and stored in the cortical centers. Studies have evaluated effects of top-down cognitive factors on phonological processing using dual-task paradigms involving both auditory and visual modalities. It is important to understand modality-specific effects as, access to phonological units through the auditory modality is compromised in the presence of noise. Moreover, assessing phonological processing in individuals with communication disorders often involves non-word repetition tasks that place demands on motor programming. We adapted an auditory n-back task in which cognitive demands are manipulated within the auditory modality, and responses do not require overt speech production. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during the task. I will discuss the findings, leveraging temporal response functions to understand the effects of cognitive demands and noise on phonological processing, as well as the implementation of this approach to study these mechanisms in stuttering. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for disentangling the role of cognitive factors in speech and language processing in noisy environments, which is critical for developing evidence-based intervention strategies in individuals with speech and language disorders.
